Passenger restraint seat belt systems in automobiles are generally well suited to properly restrain adults in a crash situation, but not so well suited to properly restrain children. Accordingly, vehicle restraint systems are often supplemented by devices such as booster seats, which may be broadly defined as auxiliary seats upon which or in which children of a certain age and size sit and wherein both the booster seat and the child are restrained by an automobile 3-point lap/shoulder belt, and wherein the booster seat redirects the automobile 3-point lap/shoulder belt to a more advantageous path for the child.
Adult lap/shoulder belt systems are sized and positioned for adults and known to be less adequate for children as they are sized and located such that the automobile lap belt generally falls dangerously across a child's soft abdomen rather than across the child's bony pelvis. Further, automobile shoulder belts are anchored, at their top end, far from a child's shoulder and can fall either off the child's shoulder or across the child's face. The combination of deficiencies is addressed by belt positioning booster car seats, which attempt to reposition automobile lap/shoulder belts more appropriately for children.
Belt positioning booster car seats include a seat portion, which elevates a child above a vehicle seat and includes guiding recesses to locate the automobile lap belt forward of the child's abdomen and low on the bony pelvis thus lessening the risk of abdominal injury in a crash. Booster seats may also include a back portion with guiding slots to direct the automobile shoulder belt across the child's shoulder and chest where it can be most effective in restraining the child in a crash situation and also where it is most comfortable.
Belt positioning booster car seats are generally meant for children weighing from about 30 pounds to 80 or even 100 pounds. Seated height and corresponding shoulder height for this weight span varies greatly. Accordingly, some booster seats are equipped with a height adjustable headrest with an integral belt guide or a combination backrest and headrest with an integral belt guide in an effort to better accommodate various sizes of children.
However, published studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have shown that the wide variation in automobile shoulder belt mounting position in various automobiles and seating locations, combined with the wide range of child weights/sizes needing to be accommodated has resulted in less than optimal auto shoulder belt positioning in some instances. Ideally, a belt positioning booster car seat would provide an optimal automobile shoulder belt path across a child's torso for the widest range of children and for the widest range of automobile shoulder belt mounting locations. This invention addresses a solution to this need with an adjustable, easy to understand, easy to use, reliable, and inexpensive to manufacture shoulder belt-positioning means.
Although proper belt positioning is the primary goal of the invention, ease of use has become extremely important in evaluating children's car seat as it is considered directly indicative of the likely correct use. The United States government, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has begun to evaluate children's car seats for ease of use and grades seats via a star rating system. In addition to proper belt positioning this invention particularly addresses proper belt positioning that is also easy to use and therefore provides superior safety, both directly and obviously through proper belt positioning, but also indirectly and less obviously through being especially easy to understand and easy to use.